


The enigma that is Bruce Banner

by orphan_account



Category: The Avengers (Marvel Movies)
Genre: Angst, Bruce Banner Has Issues, Bruce Banner Needs a Hug, Bruce Banner-centric, Post Hulk-out, Protective Tony Stark, Science Bros, Self-Destructive Behavior, Tired Bruce Banner, heightened senses
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-03-13
Updated: 2017-03-13
Packaged: 2018-10-04 08:29:43
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,283
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10272446
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/orphan_account/pseuds/orphan_account
Summary: A video of Bruce filled the screen. He looked fairly normal, a purple shirt clinging to his torso, sleeves rolled up to the elbows. He was, as Tony noticed, fiddling nervously with his glasses, however never broke contact with the camera.A voice crackled through"This is a-uhm.. investigation" He broke eye contact for a second and looked at the floor before peering back up "to-to record the aftermath of a.. a-uhm, 'hulk-out' and the physical effects on my body" He laughed brokenly and murmured "..Don't try this at home.."





	

Bruce was often left like this after a hulk-out, but he never told anyone. He'd just ride it out until it finished, barricade himself in his room if necessary.   
Just anything to get away from the noise, the pounding throb in his temples, nausea-inducing smells and just sleep it off.

So there he was. Curled up pathetically in a ball, whimpering silently as people stomped around two stories down. Feebly attempting to massage out the painful, forever present ache in his muscles.   
The smallest beam of sunlight peaked through the window, causing Bruce to hiss violently- cringing away from the retina-burning light. Anyone else wouldn't have even noticed the sliver of light, but to Bruce it made all the difference.  
He wriggled under a blanket, turning away and burring his face into a pillow, drowning out his senses and crying softly.

-

Tony removed his welding mask, looking proudly at his work with a massive grin on his face.  
"JARVIS," He said, moving his hands in a diagonal swoop to create a hologram.  
"Yes, sir?" Jarvis replied crisply. Tony spun around a few times, squinting to look at the masses of equations, reference designs and color schemes laid out in front of him.  
"Call Brucie Bear down, will ya?" He yawned loudly, stretching out his arms "I wanna show him something"  
"Sorry sir, but as per Doctor Banner's request, I am not to contact him until given permission" Tony halted, looking up at the ceiling as if it offended him  
"Then override the command"  
"I'm afraid I'll have to deny that, Sir." With this, Tony started flipping through camera feeds, eventually enlarging the one viewing Bruce's room. He watched intently, however the screen was pretty much pitch black, give or take a few dust particles shining in the little light in the room. To the far corner, he could make out a large lump of.. _something_ facing away from the camera on the bed.   
"Zoom in on that, Jarvis" Upon zooming in, the lump seemed to quiver ever to subtly. "Hey, Jarvis- turn on audio will ya?" Tony leaned forward slightly "God, I feel like a creep. Right- what have we got here.." He pressed a couple buttons, dialing up the volume to 75%. Tony froze. Strangled cries of pain made their way through the speakers, sending a shiver up his spine. 

_Wait- somethings moving_. From under the covers, Bruce revealed his face, looking extremely ruffled and a look of pure agony plastered onto his face.  
Tony's stomach knotted-   
_What was wrong with his science bro?_  
How long had this been going on?   
How has he not seen this before-   
and why did he request for Jarvis to block out all incoming messages?  
.. Something was not right here- and Tony was determined to find out what it was, because he'd be damned if he was going to let his best friend suffer in silence any longer.

"Jarvis- help me out here, bud" He started searching through files, particularly video feeds of Bruce's room- suddenly he came across a suspicious folder labelled 'Bruce Banner: Investigation' He'd never seen this before.. He poked the hologram with his index finger, and a flood of video recordings filled the screen.

Tony opened the first one; A video of Bruce filled the screen. He looked fairly normal, a purple shirt clinging to his torso, sleeves rolled up to the elbows. He was, as Tony noticed, fiddling nervously with his glasses, however never broke contact with the camera.  
A voice crackled through 

"This is a-uhm.. investigation" He broke eye contact for a second and looked at the floor before peering back up "to-to record the aftermath of a.. a-uhm, 'hulk-out' and the physical effects on my body" He laughed brokenly and murmured "..Don't try this at home.." The video cut to a fast-forwarded feed of Bruce walking into his room and throwing himself on his bed. He looked absolutely terrible, face adorning shallow features. His cheekbones sticking out more than usual, and eyes ringed with a deep purplish-black color.   
If you were to look up exhausted in the dictionary, there would be a picture of his face- no explanation would even be needed. 

In the background of the montage, Bruce's voice started mumbling again- "It- It seem that there are waves of different symptoms as time progresses" You could practically hear him messing with the hem of his shirt "Phase one is.. is extreme exhaustion -and fatigue" He cleared his throat "This is probably my body re-cooperating itself- the longest I have ever slept in one period is three days-" Tony widened his eyes a bit, and the recording resumed "From experience.. it's best to just let it happen- its, its a lot worse if I try to restrain it..."  
The visuals jump cut to another clip "The next phase is-uhm, extreme emotional reactions.." Bruce muttered something about 'not even being able to keep his emotions in check' 

"I have-uh theorized that this is a result of the chemicals in my brain leveling out after an incident.. Adrenaline would have wore out approximately an hour afterwards, but the appropriate amounts of Dopamine, Oxycontin, Serotonin and uh-Endorphin are still out of order for another 24 hours of so.." Bruce was pacing around the room, covering his ears, tears streaming uncontrollably down his face- by the audio it seemed like his breathing rate was highly elevated as well- "I am prone to spurts of energy and ecstasy, while at other times there's just a numbness.." The video started to show Bruce scratching his arms desperately, small beads of crimson bubbling onto the surface where his fingernails dug into the flesh "I have been known to have spells of uhm-" he clears his throat, once more "'self-destructive' behavior', I will bang my head against walls, scratch my arms.. pull my hair- I'm guessing it's just to feel something? I.. don't exactly remember much- It's kind of foggy."  
Tony struggled to keep a straight face.  
"Like I said before- this normally only lasts one to one and a half days max.." Bruce seemed to exhale. "The final stage is extreme sensitivity to.. well- uhm, everything."  
Tony's ears pricked up, curious- "Well- it's not really a stage, I mean- it kind of happens the whole time but is.. i don't know- singled out ?- around the end.."  
The last clip was fairly short, highlighting a few videos of Bruce covering his ears from sound, rocking back at forth, and the distant sound of retching. "I have issues with pretty much all of my senses.. Everything's way too loud.. sometimes I can hear two stories down- it's.. distracting to say the least. I perceive light way too bright and pretty much have to live in the dark." Bruce mumbled.. "What else.. Oh- uh, smells- smells are most of the time nausea-inducing, it's often difficult to eat -or I just don't eat at all for the few days it lasts.." The clip shows Bruce bumping into a bookshelf and yelling in pain. "I'm- getting better with touch sensitivities, if I was to relate it to something, I'd say that a light touch is similar to running your skin under scalding water-"

The video jumps back to introduction Bruce. "This is just for future reference.." Bruce whispers something that sounded suspiciously like 'I swear Tony, if you watch this I will end you' "So-uh.. basically be a hermit for around three days and you'll be fine.." The screen blips to black.

Tony stared blankly for a good few minutes.  
Nothing had been able to render Tony speechless for this long before- no sarcastic quip, no nothing.

"Doctor Banner has left his room, and is heading to the kitchen, Sir"


End file.
